“MAY PEACE PREVAIL ON EARTH”

Located in the courtyard by the Lobby entrance, the Peace Pole symbolizes the Oneness of Humanity and our common wish for World Peace. It is to remind us to think, speak, and act in the spirit of peace. At the base of the pole we invite you to leave your silent or verbal prayers, your notes, your flowers, an offering of love.

 

Declaration Read on the Dedication Day August 23, 2015:

“We declare this Peace Pole and garden is to be a beacon of our Diversity, Equality, Community and of our Hope…a welcoming oasis where we might take rest, and pause from our sometimes challenging world…In such uncertain and difficult times either personally, within our community, nationally or around our world, when crisis hits and also in times of great joy and celebration, we offer a communal place for expression and reflection.

A place for prayers, thoughts, and intentions.   A place for quiet and a place for contemplation. A place where we may be encouraged to examine further and discover the shadows within ourselves that do not yet hold Peace, and be inspired to step back into wholeness.

We at First Christian gift this Peace Pole to our Community, and choose to merely play host, so that ‘she’ is not ‘ours,’ but that we simply oversee the care of her on our grounds…and would encourage our family and community to take ownership.

For this marker of Peace does not hold a magic by herself.  It is only by our embrace of what she truly offers us that will breathe her life…

So together as we navigate this life that can bring joy alongside anguish, gratitude alongside despair, and try to make sense of that, that sometimes makes no sense…

Whoever you are, whatever you believe, and however you came to be here.., if indeed you come in Peace…Welcome.”

 

Our prayer of peace is echoed in six languages.

English: Our common language…whether it is our first or second language.  This is the means by which we communicate.

Arabic: In this Climate of time in our world… we stand in solidarity with Muslims living their peaceful lives with their peaceful faith who sometimes encounter a backlash of hate because of terrorism, and the fear that translates into finding a face to hate.

Hebrew: Our Jewish roots in faith..Our Lord Jesus..King of the Jews…and our close Jewish communities.

Korean: A sizeable demographic within LA communities and our own Yang family within our church family… with Pastor Young Jun and Pastor Young Kim, leaders of the Pacific Southwest region for our denomination.

Spanish: A huge part of Los Angeles culture.  Our own friends and family Pastor Alfredo and his wife Loydi who minister to their own congregation within the walls of First Christian.

Chumash: The Chumash Indian tribe existed South of Santa Barbara to Malibu and North Topanga and spilled into the Valley and the Tongva tribe were settled in the Los Angeles basin and out to the east and also spilled into The Valley and occupied much of South Topanga.  Evidence suggests these tribes and others to the North lived and traded peaceably with each other.   We chose the Chumash on behalf of all native tribes.  A hand of friendship and peace extended not just today, but back through the years on behalf of all native tribes of this nation.  Their inclusion on our peace pole is an honouring and an amends as we acknowledge what happened to many native Americans was definitely not of Peace.

These are only representations of the diversity in our neighborhood.  We are fortunate to have an especially rich and creative culture here in North Hollywood.